How The Internet of Things Changed Laundry

July 25, 2017

For the uninitiated, the Internet of Things refers to the proliferation of technology ,of all sorts, which connects to the internet as a means of expanding its functionality. With cars, this means online radio as you drive. With refrigerators, it’s the ability to buy fresh groceries without leaving your kitchen.

But nowadays, even your laundry machine can access the wi-fi, and learns after only a few weeks of user input. It’s a strange decision at a glance, but there are a handful of reasons why the Internet of Things changed laundry, in particular, for the better.

User Convenience

The principle at the heart of smart technology is finding innovative ways to simplify processes for consumers. When it comes to doing the laundry, successful firms like Continental Girbau know that reducing the number of steps it takes to finish the chore could save its patrons precious hours in a year.

By incorporating smart technology and internet accessibility, the user experience is improved in two direct ways. Firstly, preferred options settings can be keyed in with the press of a button rather than through adjusting an array of knobs and dials. Whether your washer lets you key everything in advance, or gives you hotkey-like, pre-programmed settings, the mental effort it takes to get the job done is drastically reduced.

Second, your washer lets you know precisely when it’s time to come back and move on to the next step of the process, allowing users to effectively focus on more meaningful tasks while the laundry practically does itself. It might seem like a trivial benefit, but since the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the average person can spend up to 100 hours per year doing laundry, reclaiming lost time could be a bigger deal than one might think.

Assisting Entrepreneurs

One major benefit of fitting washers with smart tech is the greater control and monitoring capacity it gives a nation’s entrepreneurs. Laundromat operators are familiar with the anxiety of wondering how well their business is doing on a given day, and the struggle of maximizing the number of loads their commercial washers can take.

Smart technology gives them the ability to monitor a day’s productivity from their own smartphones by tracking the number of cycles since opening time. Moreover, by expanding the user’s range of options and expediting the process of doing laundry, it means more cycles can be completed over a shorter period of time –greatly contributing to their bottom line.

Thanks to these advances, budding entrepreneurs can enjoy a peak time to invest in opening a laundromat while those already in business can rest easy as technology catches up with their needs and demands.

Connectivity And Convenience

The impact of connectivity technology on the way we clean our clothes is a prime example of how technology can simplify and improve daily life. While the Internet of Things has gotten its fair share of criticism for frivolous developments, the fact still remains that humanity is on the verge of revolutionizing into a society where household management becomes a perfectly intuitive process.